Daft Punk Concert - Sydney 12/22/07

So Saturday was crazy. My roommate Elliot and I went over to his friend's house where there was a pre-party at 10:30AM. We had a bus take about 50 of us to the concert at Olympic Park. It was pretty much pandemonium. They had a Jagermeister tent hooked up with a Red Bull tent, and the party was on. I'm also 100% sure I was the only person not on drugs. The bus ride into the show was a riot because 10 minutes after we left, this guy realized he had forgot his wallet, which also had his ticket. He was pretty bombed so we dropped him off and continued without him. Well, 5 minutes later the guy who was sitting next to him found his wallet. Turns out the kid put it in that mesh backing of his bus seat and forgot...he was pretty bombed so not surprising. I told everyone my similar story when I lost my Skins/Lions Club level playoff ticket at the gate...only to find it on the inside of my hat after I entered the stadium on a scalped ticket. Haha, good times. Anyway, I don't know how he got to the show without his wallet, but it was a $100 cab and he did meet back up with us. Inside was pretty nuts. DJ booths all over the park playing and people getting loose. When Daft Punk came on it was insane...I tried to capture some video with my poopy camera which is below. My new camera gets here in a week which I look forward too...thanks ma.

Anyway, after the show I got split up from everyone and got lost. I asked a guard where bus stop 7 was, he looked at his map, didn't know, so he said 'follow me'. Now, for those of you that don't know Daft Punk, they're 2 French DJs that are mega superstars world-wide. They always wear helmets when they do any public appearance and no one knows what they look like. If you Google them, the only picture you'll see is from 10 years ago and that is the only one.

The conversation with this guard (as we're cutting through the Olympic security area) went like this:
Guard : So, where are you from?
Me: The States.
Guard: (laughing) I'm from Iraq!
Me: Oh boy, well, I gotta say it's a shame how things are going and just to let you know the majority of the US feels that way too.
Guard: Oh no. I totally agree with everything the US is doing. It's a good thing!
Me: Really? OK good then. I am actually going to Falluja next week for business.
Guard: WHAT?! Really?
Me: No...haha. I enjoy how my head is attached to my body.

He then went on to talk about how he very sadly and disturbingly saw a US soldier get shot and then dismembered. I immediately cut him off and refocused him back on getting me to bus stop 7. At this point we had gone past several different security checkpoints and fences and I am now standing next to the tunnel where several people were standing and waiting, including a collection of really hot girls and an area with some couches. I knew I was at the backstage access and told the guard 'Lets ask these people'. At that moment the 2 members of Daft Punk walked right into where I was standing. One immediately went one way and the other went back into this lounge area. As soon as I went to take my first 1-inch step towards the lounge area, which was still 15 yards away, this massive security guard screamed at me and the guard and escorted us out. Game over. Well, I ended up making it back to the bus and it was quite the highlight seeing the faces of 2 quite illusive people. The highlight of the show was when they mixed 'Stronger' and 'Around the World' on top of each other.

DJ playing house music waiting for Daft Punk to come out...


Stadium during DJ set..


Entrance into show...


My roommate Elliot on the far right and friend Matt next to him.



The bus and party where much more raucous then these pictures lend. These people know how to party. Maybe these videos will show that. At the time it seemed like a great idea to pan the crowd but that failed miserably.

One More Time...


More stable view...


More...